I want to commend Julie Plec and Kevin Williamson for their choice of episode title, but I have to say that I think Dylan Thomas would be rolling over in his grave. His famous poem, from which last night’s episode title comes, boasts the line: "Do not go gentle into that good night / Rage, rage, against the dying of the light." It speaks to grand themes, like resisting death, not just for one’s self, but for one’s family left behind. Clearly, this relates to what we thought would be Alaric’s death for most of the show (except if you watch the series at all, you’d know that something crazy would happen, like Bonnie getting possessed by Esther and feeding Alaric her blood so that he wouldn’t die but complete his transformation), and how Jeremy and Elena felt as his family. Except, Alaric decided to go gentle into that good night, and stayed in the tomb waiting for death. But Bonnie, that pesky, pesky witch, raged against the dying of the light.

Evil Alaric and Esther as Rebekah until Alaric staked her so she could return to her body
After last week’s reveal that Esther was possessing Rebekah, you’ll remember that she and evil Alaric decided to team up to kill the Originals, and thus, every vampire in existence. There was a slight problem with this plan, considering evil Alaric only existed half of the time. However, that changed. Alaric had not been taking the herbs Bonnie prescribed for him so that he could stay himself. So, he was pretending to be regular Alaric but was really just evil Alaric, for basically the entire episode. Luckily, Damon figured it out when he saw the full stock of herbs, but let’s take a moment to say how wild this was! Okay, moment over. And new moment: Esther’s plan to rid the world of vampires? Make Alaric into a vampire. A vampire hunter. And she did this by melding the power of his ring to the white oak stake to make it indestructible.
And then she killed him, so he would awake to transition into the vampire to kill all vampires. Oy.

Bonnie’s love life
That was heavy, so let’s talk about something seemingly lighter but equally as creepy. I knew that Bonnie had been hanging out with Jamie during Abby’s transition and such, and I could see how the producers would want to develop their storyline, but dude: Why is Bonnie dating her pseudo adopted brother? THAT IS WEIRD! SERIOUSLY! She was making out with her mother’s adopted son. And then she slept in a bed with him! And I’m sorry, but this new relationship is slightly incestuous!

Elena’s love life
Still struggling with her feelings, Caroline urged Elena to invite Stefan to the dance, which she did. And they basically had a grand ol’ time. It’s just clear that although Damon and Elena have something, she and Stefan have to win out.

Caroline’s love life
Tyler showed up at the dance, pretended to still be sired to Klaus and got really jealous and competitive. But Tyler’s still the one for Caroline. However, Klaus told her: "Small town boy, small town life. It won’t be enough for you." Honestly, I’m not sure what to make of this cliché-but-potentially-true statement. Will the Klaus and Caroline thing ever amount to something?

Jeremy
The youngest Gilbert came back for good, which I know we’re all pleased about. But he still wore his Gilbert ring. I think we should all be worried...

Alaric
Esther showed up at the '20s decade dance and told Elena to come with her to save Ric. Before that, she did a boundary spell, which stopped any supernatural creatures from leaving the school (except for Elena, because she needed her mystical, potent, doppelganger blood. Can we please learn more about the doppelganger? Did Tatia have mystical powers? Did Esther create the doppelganger? Why, oh why, am I still so confused?) She did this, of course, by throwing down some salt. (Apparently, salt has fierce magical powers.) Once at the place where Klaus tore out her heart, she explained her plan to Elena, forced her to give blood, had Alaric drink it, and killed him. When he awoke, she explained, he would still be Alaric for a little while, and then he would become the vampire slayer. So he awoke, as real Alaric, and staked Esther. That was intense! And he decided to die, and to not complete his transformation, because he was already dangerous enough. And then Esther possessed Bonnie and forced her to give Alaric her blood so he could feed and transition. Thus, Alaric has become the ultimate vampire/vampire killer. We are all very scared.

Other things:
When Alaric was waiting for death in the tomb with Damon, he said he was giving up drinking. HAHA! That’s funny! That’s so funny! Who are you, Alaric, if you are not drinking? Also, now that he’s going to be a vampire, he would have an actual reason to drink (it helps to keep the cravings down), except as the evil vampire he’s probably not going to do that, so he kind of spoke the truth! I can’t imagine a world where Alaric doesn’t drink. I just can’t.

Something fishy may be going on with Jeremy and Jamie. I know that Jeremy said he planned to wear the ring until his sister stopped hanging out with vampires, but he’s already died a couple times, so I wonder if Esther had been talking to him on the other side, too? Additionally, is Jamie too good to be true? (I mean, obviously not, because he’s sort of dating his sister, but you know what I mean...)

They should bring in a new character: Klaus reallllllllllly needs a therapist. Like, a good one. That scene with him yelling at his mother’s body? Mommy issues, times 1,000.

What did you think of the episode? Were you touched by the epic, candle-lit woods scene, honoring Alaric? Did you wonder where they got all those candles? Were you surprised by the turn of events? How are our fair heroes going to stop Alaric? Since he’s supposed to die when his mission ends, will we ever get the real Alaric back? Do you think something fishy’s going on with Jeremy and Jamie? Are you hungering for a flashback? Or some more Originals? Or vampires? Like me? Because I’m just dying for it?

Let me know! None of you weighed in last week, and I’ve been crying. Use Twitter! Or the comments! Or Facebook or snail mail or e-mail or carrier pigeons. Oh wait! Maybe that’s it. You all used carrier pigeons last week, so I didn’t get your news yet! Woo-hoo. I still feel loved! Thank you, all. Thank you very much.